Arsenal delivered a 3-0 mauling to Manchester City in Cardiff, giving Enzo Maresca a painful reality check in his first major test since replacing Pep Guardiola. The result served as a stark reminder of how difficult life will be for City without the Spanish genius.
Arsenal's blistering start
Riccardo Calafiori opened the scoring inside 23 seconds, capitalizing on a sublime pass from Miles Lewis-Skelly, who turned past Phil Foden and slipped the ball inside Ruben Dias. Calafiori beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a neat finish. Kai Havertz doubled the lead before half-time, and Martin Odegaard completed the rout in style in the second half.
City looked disjointed and sluggish throughout, with Erling Haaland missing a clear chance and Ben White making a stunning block to deny Jeremy Doku. Maresca sent on Jack Grealish for the second half, but Odegaard immediately made it 3-0, leaving Donnarumma on his backside.
City's struggles without Rodri
City were without Rodri, who remains at the centre of a transfer saga between the club and Barcelona. The absence of the Spanish World Cup winner was felt immediately, as Arsenal took advantage of the lack of midfield control.
The match featured £125m worth of new talent in Bruno Guimaraes, Christos Tzolis, and Elliot Anderson, while Grealish started on the bench. Arsenal, who ended a three-year trophy drought under Mikel Arteta, have now won two trophies in four months.
Pressure mounts on Maresca
Maresca was taunted with chants of 'you're getting sacked in the morning' as City struggled. The result highlighted the gap between the two sides, who were the best in the Premier League last season but looked poles apart in Cardiff.
Just one of the past 15 winners of this silverware have gone on to become champions that season, but on this evidence, Arsenal look more than capable of bucking the trend.
